Author Topic: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards  (Read 1280 times)

Offline MrRiplEy[H]

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Re: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards
« Reply #15 on: February 28, 2015, 12:24:19 PM »
It's always best to uninstall existing drivers when changing a card. During the installation the brand, model and even some unique identification code gets written to the Registry. So it's quite important to have that information correct in order the card to work at its maximum potential. Generic drivers are only for showing an image on the screen to enable installing the dedicated drivers.

On the other hand there's a thing called 'plug and play' which will reconfigure your hardware on install.
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Offline Bizman

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Re: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards
« Reply #16 on: February 28, 2015, 01:02:12 PM »
On the other hand there's a thing called 'plug and play' which will reconfigure your hardware on install.
Also known as "plug and pray", but apparently only by apple/linux fanbois?  :bolt:

Seriously speaking, a clean uninstall/reinstall takes about five minutes while trying to figure out what can possibly have gone wrong with the automatic reconfiguration may take five weeks, even months.
« Last Edit: February 28, 2015, 01:05:36 PM by Bizman »
Quote from: BaldEagl, applies to myself, too
I've got an older system by today's standards that still runs the game well by my standards.

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Offline Chalenge

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Re: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards
« Reply #17 on: February 28, 2015, 01:21:05 PM »
Ammo, because drivers have caused so many problems with different people and their systems the best solution is to completely clean the related drivers from your system every time. Then you should also really consider in depth if any driver update is actually going to offer you a benefit before installing anything new. Additionally, I recommend that you wait for other people to test new drivers for a week before you adopt a new driver, so you don't fall victim to a poor driver (which can be costly).
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Offline -ammo-

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Re: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards
« Reply #18 on: February 28, 2015, 03:07:05 PM »
I installed the new card without cleaning the old driver and reinstalling and as some predicted, the new card is not running at its potential.  At first my thought was "awesome, that was incredible easy".  But then I started AH.  If FPS is any indicator, the 980 isn't performing as well as the 770. 

Had a date with the wife so had to leave it for tomorrow to fix.  I'll uninstall the drivers and install the software that came with the card.
Commanding Officer, 56 Fighter Group
Retired USAF - 1988 - 2011

Offline Gman

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Re: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards
« Reply #19 on: February 28, 2015, 06:50:14 PM »
Driver sweep it Ammo, then reinstall the latest nVidia drivers before trying the old ones (you can always uninstall and re-sweep, then try some older drivers that are popular, which those CD based ones won't be).  Also check your settings in nVidia control panel, make sure all the power mode settings are on performance, and other stuff like that.

Offline -ammo-

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Re: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2015, 03:47:49 AM »
Driver sweep it Ammo, then reinstall the latest nVidia drivers before trying the old ones (you can always uninstall and re-sweep, then try some older drivers that are popular, which those CD based ones won't be).  Also check your settings in nVidia control panel, make sure all the power mode settings are on performance, and other stuff like that.

Thanks Gman - you da man.

I did driver sweep it but I installed the software from the disc that came with the card.  Then installed Geforce Experience and updated using it.

The card is working well.  I maxed out the sliders in AH for best eye candy and I'm getting good results.  Tried to find the "most  bestest" action to test the card last night on the deck with shat loads of GVs, CV, AAA, and planes.  While my FPS would drop to low 50s, I never had a stutter.

I do have the card over clocked a little though.  I increased the Mem and GPU clock by 240 MHz.
Commanding Officer, 56 Fighter Group
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Offline eagl

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Re: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards
« Reply #21 on: March 08, 2015, 06:29:25 AM »
NVidia 980 is a sweet card.  Price/performance is still with the NVidia 970 though, even with the controversy over the memory size.  Yea its "missing" some ram but it is also priced down where it ought to be considering its performance.  It handily beats the previous generation card at that price point, and for people not running huge monitors or multi-monitor setups, it will give results almost as good as the 980 at 2/3 the cost.

I priced out my system refresh wishlist recently, and after reading and re-reading dozens of reviews and benchmark comparisons I just couldn't get past the bang for the buck with the 970.  So my wishlist has the 970 and the top of the line i7 cpu instead of i5 cpu, since I play around with virtualization so the extra $100 on the i7 cpu gets me more than the extra $200 for the 980 would get me.

Of course, its still a wishlist :(  I just had major back surgery and might be out of a job within a year, so spending money to replace working computer hardware is not a good idea for now.  My socket 775 quad core Q9550 will have to do for a while longer.  But my point is still that I think the 970 is a better bang for the buck price point unless you're pushing enough pixels that you really do need the 980.
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Offline Gman

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Re: Question - NVIDEA Graphics Cards
« Reply #22 on: March 08, 2015, 01:45:45 PM »
I agree Eagl, I bought 2 970s and was very happy with their performance, and still think it's the best bang for the buck out there.  The only reason I took advantage of the nVidia buy back/replacement was future resale value may, and it's just may, be affected, and I replace GPUs every year at a minimum, so the whole "scandal" will still be on buyers minds, and may make selling them a bit harder.  Possibly.  Also, the exchange rate and cost of the cards up here went way up, so I made a fair bit of $ in the exchange as my retailer credited me replacement with 980s best on current price, not the lower one I paid before which was over 15%.

The 970 really kicks in Aces High, I don't see one bit of difference tbh between a single 970 and single 980.  Only in 4k have a seen anything to even really take note of in terms of advantage.  The new Titan should be interesting.